Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Harry and the Cat

There's never a Bulldog handy when you need one.

All on the beach in Monaco I expect.

The JimmyG2 Column

And MOM ( Mammal of the Match) goes to …..the cat. Good movement, ran the channel well, certainly had an eye for goal, and flummoxed Friedel twice in the space of 20 seconds which is more than Liverpool did. Kevin Bond is clearly asking Dalgleish if he was thinking of bringing him on for Carroll.

The other big feature of the match from Spurs point of view was the absentees: Defoe, Lennon, Kaboul, Sandro and particularly on the field Van Der Vaart. Off the field Harry was stuck in the departure lounge at London Airport while they tried and failed to fix his plane.

Bondy did the honours in a relaxed manner and carried out Harry's instructions, 'Come back with a point, or don't come back at all.' Job done and we keep Liverpool at bay and keep pace with the two teams closest to us after their exciting draw on Sunday.

'Exciting' is not a word to be applied to the game which is why so much attention is being paid to peripheral matters. 'Harry and the Cat', which sounds more like a childrens' classic than a match review. There's never a bulldog handy when you need one.

We defended in a manner unthinkable of the Spurs of old with the absence of Kaboul hardly noticed because of the performance of King and Dawson who plays better when he doesn't try to do too much. Bellamy who can be a handful and a nuisance was well handled by Walker but his attacking sorties were less successful. A lot of people would settle for that.

In midfield Livermore did not look out of place amongst aquality squad and Parker once he settled had a tremendous game. His impetuous tackles produced two dangerous free kicks early on which were fortunately wasted. In the second half he auditioned for the 'Iron Man' and got the part on first reading.

Modric prompted and probed and without him we would have been seriously short of invention and guile. Friedel was again in the right place at the right time showed bravery and even came out for a couple of crosses. Van Der Vaart was missed in the final third and as the link player with Modric. Adebayor was much too isolated.

I would have liked to see Kranjcar closer to him but Nico played well and his superb through ball to Bale five minutes from time should have bagged all three points. But by then Gareth was seriously over excited and upset at his treatment and instead of chipping the ball or, or taking it round Reina he hit it straight at him in the time honoured tradition of Defoe and Keane.

Not that we deserved the three points and Carroll and Suarez ,when he took time off from assaulting our Scotty, had good chances to win it. The final ten minutes were more exciting than the previous eighty, apart from the cat of course. But Kevin, Joe and Clive had read and eaten their secret instructions and returned to base with their mission accomplished. We didn't lose.

Perhaps not the way we like to see Spurs play but if we are to get to third then this was a pragmatic and impressive performance. Of course if you think we might have as chance of winning the league you will be disappointed but I haven't thought that for a while. Whatever we achieve we will have worked for it rather than winning the lottery and the satisfaction will all be ours.

Saha, (shades of Alan Partridge), came on and gave us a little glimpse of his abilities especially in the air, and Adebayor didn't look too pleased. Perhaps he can see the writing on the wall. We can't afford Ade in the long run but it would have been interesting to see them both together but last night wasn't the occasion.

Against Newcastle, written off a little prematurely it seems for the Champions' League, might be an opportunity if Defoe or Van Der Vaart are still not fit. But this is one of the possible three pointers in the current cluster of matches and I would obviously like to see a return to the dazzling Spurs of the earlier part of the season. We didn't get to third by playing safe and there is no reason to start now especially at home.

Southwark Tuesday 14:00

Meanwhile we await events at Southwark. The jury have retired, had their lunch and are either now deliberating or having a nap. We can speculate amongst ourselves over the possibilities and implications for Spurs, England, Harry and Saint George. Not forgetting Mandaric, the Blowfelt of this case. It was probably his cat last night.

Southwark Tuesday 15:00

They don't necessarily hang together and the jury could find against Mandaric but not Harry. Or the other way round of course but my ITK (Greg) suggests the former is more likely and a distinct possibility, Harry being the 'poor man who fell amongst thieves'. Though 'poor man' is stretching the parable of the 'Good Samaritan' just a little.

Southwark 16:01

Nothing yet.

Southwark..16:23

Jury back and being sent home for the night. To return at 10o/c tomorrow. Is the fact that they can't come to a conclusion in two hours a good or a bad sign. Who knows? They have to come to a unanimous decision either way on both Mandaric and Harry. Probably an Arsenal supporter holding up a 'Not Guilty' verdict.

Video Spot.

Three guesses for the video topic.Yep you got it in one. Never look a gift cat in the mouth |I always say. Too obvious says Greg but I didn't get where I am today by ignoring the obvious. I think King Kenny almost cracks a smile.

wooo, shockenham hotspurts have a season in the top 3 and suddenly they're all aloof,pfff, win a few cups and a few prem titles and maybe a champions league or two ,then maybe you will have something to shout about.Until the stfu.fikin hilarious!

yep spurs are making other clubs realise times are changin.....when fergie and wenger leave for example they will do a chelsea and struggle in maintaining their epl success..the great thing about spurs is they mean it

Anon22:34Not a THFC season ticket holder I'm thinking.Don't get arsy your turn will come round again. Give it ten years or so.Liverpool FC there used to be a decent football club over there. Racists and cloggers now. Shame.